Jose Mourinho has backed Phil Jones after his mistake at Stoke last week and has reiterated the Manchester United defender will start against Everton.

Jones was outjumped by Stoke striker Maxim Choupo-Moting for the hosts' second-half equaliser and Rio Ferdinand suggested Jones was also culpable for not covering the near post for Choupo-Moting's opener in the 2-2 draw.

Mourinho has started Jones and Eric Bailly in all four of United's games this season and the pair have performed impressively, with the exception of the aberration at Stoke.

The United manager said in midweek Marouane Fellaini's last bad performance was his infamous cameo at Everton in December and Ander Herrera commented at the time how impressed he was by Mourinho's handling of the Belgian. Mourinho revealed he managed Jones in a similar manner following his error at Stoke.

"His [Fellaini's at Everton] mistake last year was the kind of mistake I accept," Mourinho said. "I accept a goalkeeper concedes a bad goal, a player misses a penalty, gives one away. I accept individual mistakes.

"What I did with him was what I do normally with every player - like Jones. He made a bad mistake for Stoke's second goal. Is he going to be on the bench on Sunday? No.

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"That's how I do it. That's what I did with Fellaini. The players don't need any more criticism than they get from fans or the media. It's just about being pragmatic."

Mourinho confirmed on Tuesday Jones and Bailly would replace Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling, who deputised for the duo as they served the final match of their European suspensions.

Mourinho also gave short shrift to an enquiry regarding Paul Pogba's training regime. A report had earlier claimed Pogba's hamstring injury was a result of the midfielder training privately against club advice.